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AN 



ADDRESS 



DELIVERED 



ON THE TWENTY-SIXTH OF MAY, 1836. 



CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY 



SETTLEMENT OF GORHAM. 



BY JOSIAH PIERCE 



PUBLISHED BT REQUEST. 






PORTLAND : 

PRINTED BY CHARLES DAY AND CO. 
1836. 



The Committee of Arrangements tender their thanks to the Hon- 
Josiah Pierce for the truly able and appropriate Address delivered 
before the Citizens of Gorham, this day, and request a copy of the 
same for the press. James Irish, 

Samuel Stephenson, 
toppan roeie, 
^ Joseph M. Gerrish, 
Gorham, May 26«A, 1836. Caleb Hodsdon. 

Gorham, May 2Tth, 1836. 
Gentlemen, — I am gratified to learn, that the Address, I had 
the honor to deliver in commemoration of the first settlement of this 
town, was acceptable to my fellow citizens, and I cheerfully furnish 
a copy for publication. I am Gentlemen with true regard 

Your Ob't Servant, 

To Messrs. JOSIAH PIERCE. 

James Irish, 

Samuel Stephenson, 
toppan robie, 
Joseph M. Gerrish, 
Caleb Hodsoon. 






ADDRESS. 



We have come together this morning to commemorate the 
first settlement of our town. We have met to celebrate an 
event, that has been productive of important consequences, not 
only to those, who were immediately engaged in that transaction, 
but also to those, who have followed them ; to us, and to our 
successors in all ensuing time. 

We have come to look backwards for a hundred years ; to 
call up some of the prominent events, that have occurred in this 
town during a century. To contemplate the characters and 
deeds of our fathers. To hold converse with the departed 
dead ! To awaken our sympathy in their sufferings, and to 
express our gratitude for their prosperity ; our reverence for 
their piety ; our approbation of their love of order, and of civil 
and religious liberty. 

While we, on this centennial anniversary, acknowledge the 
worth of our ancestors, and admire their virtues ; by the review 
of their lives, may we be led to copy their example, in all that 
was good, and be roused to make new efforts for the welfare 
and happiness of our contemporaries ; to attempt and execute 
projects, that shall promote the good of those, who may come 
after us ; to leave behind us a fair and honorable name, that 
shall merit the affectionate veneration of those who shall people 
these fertile and happy lands, when our earthly existence shall 
have been ended, and we shall have been gathered to our 
fathers. 



Standing here this day, and looking back through the long 
vista of a hundred years, what a crowd of interesting associations 
throng upon the mind ! Widiin the lapse of a century, how 
many events, important and wonderful, have transpired ! I will 
not say in the world, but in our own beloved country. How 
have property and comfort been multiplied ! How have books 
and other means of acquiring knowledge been increased ! how 
have science and the arts advanced. Were the first settlers of 
this town permitted to revisit the places of their former abode, 
and witness these wonderful changes, how astonished would 
they be ! Our fathers never dreamed of a steam-engine, and 
its incalculable powers ! They never imagined that machinery 
could perform such wonders ! A rail-road, a steam-boat, never 
entered into their conceptions. 

Within a hundred years, how much of joy and of sorrow 
have been exhibited here ; how many of the great, the good, 
and the wise, have arisen, and flourished, and faded from the 
earth ! How many, even within the limits of this town, in the 
period of a century, have passed from time to eternity ! How 
many in the loveliness of infancy, the bloom of youth, the 
strength of manhood, and the feebleness of age, have been 
consigned to the grave ! The rich and the poor, the haughty 
and the humble, the gay and the sad, the favorites of hundreds, 
and the neglected of all, have left the varied pursuits of life, and 
gone down in silence to the tomb ! 

During the hundred years last passed, our State has arisen 
from abject poverty, to high pecuniary prosperity. A few 
destitute inhabitants, scattered along the sea coast, have multi- 
plied to hundreds of thousands of wealthy citizens ; log tene- 
ments have yielded to elegant mansions, and garrisons and 
watch-towers have given place to lofty edifices, consecrated to 
Art, Science, Literature and Religion. The narrow path has 
widened to the capacious and well made street, and gardens, 



and orchards, and cultivated fields, occupy the former ground 
of thick and gloomy forests. 

When we look around on the prosperity of our country ; on 
the quiet and peaceable possessions of our citizens ; when we 
look on the graves of our fathers, and reflect on their privations, 
their toils, and their sufferings, let us learn to estimate more 
highly, than we have heretofore done, the value of the inheri- 
tance they have left us. 

The settlement of the town of Gorham was one of the 
consequences of the war with the Narraganset Indians. The 
Colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts, for many years, lived 
on terms of friendship with that powerful tribe of natives ; at 
length jealousies arose, evils real, or imaginary, sprang up, and 
in 1675, matters had come to a crisis, and war became inevi- 
table ; it broke out with violence ; the tomahawk ; the scalping 
knife — inhuman tortures, and severe captivity awaited the 
Colonists ! Many towns were laid in ruins, many victims 
slaughtered by an unrelenting foe. At that time, the whole 
population of New-England was not probably more than sixty 
thousand. Every able bodied man, capable of bearing arms, 
was commanded to hold himself in readiness to march at the 
shortest notice. Six companies were raised in Massachusetts, 
five in Connecticut, and two in Plymouth Colony. The 
Plymouth companies were commanded by Captains Rice and 
Gorham. The Narraganset battle was one of the most memo- 
rable ever fought on this continent. The hardship and suffer- 
ings of that fight have hardly a parallel ; the battle was fought 
on the 10th of December, (old style) 1675 — the ninth was an 
extremely cold day ; the whole white army numbered 1,127 
men ; four hundred of these brave fellows (more than one third 
of the whole effective force) were so frozen as to be completely 
unfit for duty ! The snow fell fast and deep, the troops marched 
all the preceding night through a tangled and pathless wood. 
The battle commenced early in the morning and lasted sijt 



dreadful hours ! Of 4000 Indians, not two hundred escaped, 
and on our side six brave captains fell. Of Captain Gorham's 
company, thirty were killed, and forty-one wounded ! Such, 
fellow-citizens, were your heroic ancestors — such were the men 
to whom the town of Gorham was granted ! 

The Narraganset war occurred late in the year 1675. There 
were 840 men belonging to Massachusetts, who took arms in 
that conflict. For these men and their heirs, the Legislature 
of that province resolved to make grants of unimproved land, 
on account of their military services ; accordingly, two town- 
ships were granted in 1728, and five more in 1732. 

These seven townships were granted on the conditions then 
generally imposed ; viz. the grantees were to meet within two 
months, and organize each propriety, to consist of 120 persons ; 
to settle sixty families in seven years ; to settle a learnedj 
orthodox minister ; to erect a meeting house ; to clear a certain 
number of acres of land, and to reserve a certain proportion 
of the township for the use of schools, the ministry, and the 
first settled minister. 

The Narraganset grantees first met in Cambridge in 1729, 
they then petitioned for more land, and five townships were 
granted in 1732. This grant passed the House of Representa- 
tives on the 30th of June, but was not consented to by Jonathan 
Belcher, the then Provincial Governor, till April 26th, 1733. 
The grantees held a meeting on the common of the town of 
Boston, on the sixth day of June 1733, at 2 o'clock P. M. and 
formed themselves into seven distinct societies ; each consisting 
of 120 persons, who should be entitled to one of the townships 
granted to the Narraganset soldiers. Three persons were 
chosen from each society, to make out a list of the grantees to 
assign the towns to each company, and to assemble the gran- 
tees of the respective societies, to elect oflicers, and manage their 
affairs. At this meeting it was voted "that one of the societies, 
consisting of 120 persons, should consist mostly of proprietors 



belonging to ihe towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth, Eastliam, 
NSandvvich, Plymouth, Tisbury, Ablngton, Duxbury, and one 
from Scituate."* 

To this society was assigned township denominated Narra- 
ganset No. 7, which is now the town of Gorham. 

The seven committees met at Luke Verdey's in Boston, 
October 17, 1733, and assigned the several townships, viz. 
Narraganset No. 1, on Saco river, now Buxton, Maine. 
'< No. 2, at Wachuset, adjoining Rutland, Mass. 

" No. 3, on Souhegan river, now Amherst, N. H, 

" No. 4, at Amoskeag, N. H. 

" No. 5, on Merrimac river, now Merrimac and > 

Bedford, N. H. S 

" No. 6, called Southtown,now Templeton, Mas. 

" No. 7, on Presumscot river, now Gorham, Me. 

The committee for the township Narraganset No. 7, were 
Col. Shubael Gorham, Timothy White and Robert Standfort. 
The township being granted and assigned to the company of 
Narraganset soldiers, under the command of the late Capt. John 
Gorham, the grantees immediately took measures to bring for- 
ward the seitlement of their town. It was determined to make 
a survey of 120 lots, of 30 acres each for the first division, 
each grantee was to have one right, estimated at the value of 
£10. which right was to consist of one 30 acre, one 70 acre, 
and one 100 acre lot. The General Court of Massachusetts 
passed an order, authorizing and empowering Col. Shubael 
Gorham to call the first meeting of the grantees of Narraganset 
No. 7. It was also voted by the Legislature, that the seven 
years assigned for the time, in which to perform the settling 
duties, should be computed from the first day of June 1734, and 
would consequently end June 1, 1741. In 1734, a survey of 
part of the town was made ; and in the succeeding year 1735, 
the thirty acre lots were located, drawn, and confirmed to the 
* See note A in the AppendLx. 



8 

several grantees. Several roads were also located and named. 
Thus was our town prepared for settlement, but as yet, no tree 
was felled, no habitation for white man erected. 

One hundred years ago this morning, the sun threw his 
cheering beams over the unbroken forests of our town ; on the 
succeeding evening, " the moon walking in brightness," shed 
her mild rays on a small opening, made by the hand of civilized 
man ! 

A hundred years ago this morning, John Phinney, a son of 
one of the conquerers of the Narragansets ; a descendant of the 
Pilgrims ; a wanderer from the Old Colony, disembarked from 
his canoe on the Presumpscot river, with his axe, and a small 
stock of simple provisions, attended by a son of fourteen years 
of age, with a design to make a home for himself and family, in 
this then wilderness, but now large and flourishing town. 

Having selected a spot for his future dwelling, that son, Ed- 
mund Phinney (afterwards distinguished, not only in our town, 
but as a Colonel in the war of the revolution) felled the first 
tree for settlement. The event is worthy of commemoration. 
The snows of winter had passed away ; ' the time of the sing- 
ing of birds had come ;' the trees had put on their fresh and 
verdant robe, the woodland flowers 

"Were gay in their young bud and bloom," 
unpicked and untrampled upon by civilized man. 

John Phinney, the first settler of Gorham, was the son of 
Deacon John Phinney of Barnstable, Mass. and was born in 
that town April 8, (0. S.) 1693. He removed from Barnsta- 
ble with his wife and five children to Falmouth, (now Pordand) 
about 1732, he had two children born in Falmouth ; he remov- 
ed to this town, as has been stated in May 1736. He had 
three children born in Gorham, viz. Mary Gorham, Colman, 
and James. 

Mary Gorham Phinney, daughter of Capt. John Phinney, 
and Martha his wife was born in August 1736, about three 



months after the commencement of the settlement. This daugh- 
ter was the first white child born in Gorham ; she married 
James Irish, father of Gen. James Irish, and left numerous 
descendants. She was a professor of the christian religion for 
seventy years, and during that long period, ever lived an exem- 
plar)' and devoted christian ; maintaining the domestic relations 
of daughter, wife, and mother, in a most unexceptionable man- 
ner ; distinguished for kindness, hospitality, industry and 
christian cheerfulness ; she was a worthy example for all the 
numerous daughters, since born around her, and she left behind 
her, a memory dear to many, and a character worthy the com- 
mendation of all. This lady died in 1825, at the advanced age 
of 89 years. 

Colman Phinney, the second child of Capt. Phinney, born 
in this town, was killed by the fall of a tree, when about ten 
years of age ; and James Phinney, the youngest son of Capt. 
Phinney, was born April 13th (old style) 24ih N. S. 1741. 
He lived almost to this time, beloved and respected wherever 
known. We have seen his venerable form moving among us, 
the patriarch of almost a hundred years ! in a green old age, 
intelligent and cheerful, in full possession of a sound mind, 
correct judgment and retentive memory. He enjoyed through 
life the confidence of his townsmen, and for a long number of 
years was one of their officers. 

Captain John Phinney lived here two years before any other 
white family came ; he lived on land now owned by Edmund 
Mann, Esq.; the first land cleared was where the orchard now 
grows ; some Indians had wigwams near by, and for two years 
Phinney's children had no other play-fellows, than young 
Indians. During those years Capt. Phinney had to go to Pre- 
sumpscot lower falls to mill ; he used to transport his corn and 
provisions in a float on the river, carrying them round the falls 
at Saccarappa and Amon-Congin, there being no pathway even 
2 



10 

to Portland through the forest. In these fatiguing and dangerous 
journies to mill, he was frequently assisted by his eldest daugh- 
ter Elizabeth (who afterwards married Eliphalet Watson). She 
used to help her father carry his boat round the falls, and assist 
in rowing and transporting his heavy loads. 

The second settler of this town was Daniel Mosier, who 
removed from Falmouth in 1 738. He was the father of James 
Mosier, who died in 1834, at the age of 99 years and three 
months. Soon after came Hugh McLellan, from the north of 
Ireland, and settled near where the vfidow of his son Thomas 
McLellan now lives ; within a short period from the time of 
McLellan's coming here, William Pote, William Cotton, 
Ebenezer Hall, Eliphalet Watson, Clement Harvey, Bartholo- 
mew Thorn, John Irish, John Ayer* Jacob Hamblen, Benjamin 
Skillings and others moved into the town as settlers. 

It required no small share of courage, firmness, and enter- 
prise to go into the wilderness and commence a settlement at 
that period. Let us for a moment contemplate the situation of 
the province of Maine, at the time when Capt. Phinney began 
the settlement of this town. There were but nine towns, and 
a few feeble plantations in Maine. Portland, Saco, and Scar- 
borough, were but just recovering from their recent destruc- 
tion by the Indians. A second line of townships from the coast 
had just been located, and were frontier places, all back of them 
was wilderness. The Indians, though nominally at peace, were 
discontented, jealous, and meditated revenge for past chastise- 
ments, and victories obtained over them. 

In 1690, all the settlements east of Wells were destroyed. 
In the Indian wars from 1703 to 1713, Maine lost one third of 
all her population ; and a large proportion of the personal 
property was destroyed ; through extreme want and suffering, 
many persons were driven away, never to return. In 1724, 
the Norridgewocks were broken up ; in 1725, Capt. Lovell 
and his company killed or dispersed the Pequawket Indians at 



11 

Fryeburg. In 1736, the whole population of Maine was prob- 
ably not more than 7000. In 1735 — 6 and 7, the scarlet fever 
or (as it was usually called) the throat distemper, raged through- 
out Maine, and more than 500 died with the disease ; in some 
towns it was peculiarly fatal ; in Scarborough, no one attacked 
with the distemper recovered. The inhabitants in all the new 
towns suffered greatly for want of food, clothing, and comforta- 
ble houses ; while danger from the Indians was constant and 
pressing. Famine, massacre, and captivity threatened them 
continually. It required men like the puritans to undertake and 
carry through the hazardous enterprise of settling new towns 
among savage beasts, and savage men. The early fathers of 
Gorham were persons of such characters. The first settlers of 
our town were from a noble stock ; the direct descendants of 
the Pilgrims ; almost all the first inhabitants were from the old 
Colony ; nearly every town on Cape Cod contributed one or 
more setders for Narraganset No. 7. The greater number 
however were from Barnstable, Yarmouth and Eastham. The 
immediate grantees were the conquerors of the famous and far 
dreaded Indian King Philip. 

The early inhabitants of Gorham partook largely of the 
character of their ancestors, the Pilgrims. They were a hardy, 
enterprising, virtuous race of men ; of indomitable courage — 
unbending firmness — uncompromising integrity ; sober, indus- 
trious, frugal, temperate in all things. They were distinguished 
for enduring fortitude, for open-handed hospitality. It is true 
they were not eminent for attainments in literature, nor did they 
make much progress in the sciences : not that they were 
deficient in talents, but they had not leisure, or opportunity for 
the cultivation of letters. They did all they could do, and more 
ihan might have been expected of them to do, in such times, 
and in their position. In their humble dwellings in the wilder- 
ness, they had little leisure for the study of books, even if they 
had possessed them. Their minds were incessantly occupied 



13 

in devising ways to obtain sustenance and clothing for themselves 
and families ; and in providing means for defence against artful 
and revengeful foes. Exhausted with fatigue, and worn with 
cares and anxieties, could they be expected to attend to the 
elegancies and blandishments of older, more numerous, and 
wealthier communities ? 

They might at this day, be called intolerant in their religious 
views and practices ; but they were in this respect, like other 
sects of their age. They were undoubtedly zealous for what 
they considered to be the truth. A stern and somewhat severe 
morality prevailed every where among the Puritans ; and it 
would have been wonderful, if their immediate descendants had 
not in this respect, been somewhat like their fathers, following 
their advice, obeying their precepts, and living according to 
their example. Our puritan fathers felt conscious that religion, 
virtue and knowledge, were essential to good government, and 
the permanent welfare of the community ; hence they spared 
no pains to support the gospel, to inculcate morality in the minds 
of their children, and to provide means for their education. At 
the very first meeting of the proprietors of this town, one of 
their first votes was to provide for preaching and religious 
instruction. They never forgot the great and momentous object 
for which the Pilgrims settled in New-England ; religious 
freedom and liberty oi conscience. They entered the wilderness 
for purity of religion ; to found a religious commonwealth ; to 
raise up a pious race. 

Unlike the Spanish adventurers in South-America, they 
thirsted not for a career of military glory ; they cherished no 
extravagant ambition ! They looked not on immeasurable lands 
with the longing eye of cupidity ; they expected no brilliant 
success, nor anticipated finding crystal streams, whose sands 
sparkled with gold ! They sought not the sunny plains and 
exuberant verdure of the South ! they sought not a clime gay 
with perennial flowers, with a balmy atmosphere, or Italian 



13 

skies ! they sought not a land of gold or of spices, of vvhie or 
of oil. Other and purer wishes were theirs: they expected 
not a life of luxury and ease. Sanctity of conscience was their 
great tenet. " Their religion was their life." Rigorous was 
the climate and hard the soil, where they chose to dwell. Here 
a countless train of privations and sufferings awaited them, pri- 
vations and sufferings, that nnight have made the less brave and 
energetic quail. Cold, and hunger, and fear of midnight 
slaughter, or cruel captivity by savage bands was their portion ! 

Under this load of evils, what but a firm belief in the sacred- 
ness of their cause, and the consolations derived from the 
sublime truths of Christianity, could have sustained them ? To 
their religious belief, their exemplary lives, their untiring zeal, 
and indefatigable industry, are we indebted for the blessings of 
freedom, plenty and knowledge, now enjoyed by us, their poster- 
ity. They have left us that, which gold and silver could not 
buy, which gems and diamonds could not purchase ! How 
great are our obligations to our brave and virtuous fathers ! how 
great also, to our noble and heroic mothers, who dwelt here 
from eighty to one hundred years ago ! Think of the wants, 
the anxieties, the perils, and the sufferings they endured ! 

Females of this town, contrast your abundance of food and 
dress, your quiet homes, and peaceful, feminine pursuits, with 
their scarcity, when long days and cheerless nights passed with 
barely provision enough to sustain life ! flying frequently at an 
hour's warning, from their rude dwellings to garrison ! Setting 
aside the wheel and the loom, to mount guard as sentinels, to 
handle the cartridge, or discharge the musket ! Think of the 
immense sacrifices they made, and consider whether your rich 
and numerous blessings, having been so dearly purchased, are 
not to be highly prized.* Though we have often heard of their 
sufferings, we cannot fully appreciate them ! " Their misery 
was great ! for months they had neither meat nor bread, and 

* See note B in the Appendix. 



14 

often at niglit, they knew not where to get food for the morning! 
Yet in all their wants and trials, their confidence in the mercy 
and goodness of God was never shaken. 

The first sixteen years after the settlement of Gorham, were 
years of great anxiety and suffering ; the settlers often suffered 
for food ; at one time all the provision, the family of Capt. 
Phinney had for some days, was two quarts of boiled w^heat, 
which had been reserved for seed. 

At that period all the towns in Maine were obliged to erect 
and maintain garrisons, or forts, for places of refuge against 
Indian attacks. These forts were constructed of hewn timber, 
with palisades of large posts, set deep in the ground, closely 
together outside the limber, and ten or twelve feet high ; watch- 
boxes were built on the top of the* walls ; the whole was bullet 
proof. The fort in Gorham was erected on the thirty acre lot 
No. 2, a short distance west of the present town house, on what 
is yet called Fort-hill, and which is the most elevated land in 
the town. The fort had two six pounder swivels, placed at 
diagonal corners, for the purpose of defence against the Indians, 
and to be fired to alarm the neighboring towns of Buxton, Scar- 
borough and Windham, when savages were discovered in the 
vicinity. 

The first meeting of the proprietors held at Gorham, was at 
the house of Capt. John Phinney, on the 24th of November, 
1741. Moses Pearson was chosen moderator, and John Gor- 
ham clerk. Two days afterwards (Nov. 26) the proprietors 
voted " that a meeting house be built, for the worship of God, 
in said town, 36 feet long, 20 feet wide, with 20 feet shed," 
and fifty shillings on a right was voted in order to erect said 
meeting house, and to clear a suitable tract of land to set the 
same upon. On the next Monday, at an adjourned meeting, 
it was voted, " that twenty rods square be cleared on the west 
side of the way, called King-street, in order for building a 
meeting house thereon. So soon and so liberally did the first 



15 

settlers of Gorham make provision for religious worsliip. At 
the same meeting four hundred acres of land in the town, 
was granted to his Excellency, William Shirley, the then colo- 
nial Governor of Massachusetts ; this grant was located by 
Mallison's Falls, now called horse-beef falls.* 

At the same meeting it was also " voted that William Pote, 
John Phinney and Daniel Mosier, be a committee to lay out a 
road through the woods, from the end of Gorham-street to Sac- 
carappa mills." This road is what is now called the old county 
road, leading from Gorham village by James Phinney's, Daniel 
and Benjamin Mosier's and the Tyng place, to Saccarappa. 

In 1743, at a proprietor's meeting, it was " voted to raise 
sixpence on a right, to pay Daniel Mosier, provided he look 
out and spot a road direct to Black Point." At the same 
meeting " 400 acres of land was granted to John Gorham in that 
corner of the township, adjoining Falmouth and Presumpscot 
river, he the said Gorham to finish or cause to be finished, the 
saw mill and grist mill, that he hath already begun in said town- 
ship on Little river." These were the first mills erected in 
Gorham. 

In 1745, what is called the fifth Indian war broke out, and 
Narraganset No. 7, being a frontier town, was entirely exposed 
to assaults from the savages ; the few inhabitants were obliged 
to be on watchful guard day and night ; often compelled to fly 
to garrison — to labor with arms in their hands ; their crops 
were frequently injured or destroyed, their fences broken 
down ; their cows killed, their buildings burned, themselves 
wounded, killed, or carried captive to Canada. These aggra- 
vated and repeated distresses disheartened some of the settlers, 
and they abandoned their fields and houses, and removed to 
towns less liable to attack ! In Gorham, the people lived for 
years in a state of painful anxiety ; they were prevented from 
cultivating their lands, their mills were burned, and the distress- 

* See note C in the Appendix. 



16 

ed families shut up in the fort, were in danger of starvation ! 
At the commencement of the war, there were eighteen famihes 
in this town ; nine of which moved into the garrison, where 
they were closely shut up for four years, and they remained 
dwelling in the fort seven years ; eleven soldiers were furnished 
by the government of Massachusetts to protect the garrison, 
and assist the inhabitants in procuring the necessaries of life. 

The nine families that removed into the fort, where those of 
Capt. John Phinney, Jacob Hamlen, Daniel Mosier, Hugh 

McLellan, Clement Harvey, John Reed, Cloutman, 

Jeremiah Hodgdon and Eliphalet Watson. Those who left 
the town were William Pote, James Irish, John Eayer, Caleb 
Cromwell, Ebenezer Hall, William Cotton, Benjamin Skillings 
and Benjamin Stevens ; eight families. 

The 19th of April O. S. (corresponding to the 30th April 
now) was a disastrous day to the little hand of settlers in Gor- 
ham. On that sad day, one whole family, by the name of 
Bryant, was cut off by Indian cruelty ! The father and the 
children slain in a most barbarous manner ; the wife and mother 
carried away heart broken into captivity ! and two of the most 
hardy and effective men. Reed and Cloutman, taken prisoners 
and marched through the woods to Canada ! On that day there 
were four families that had not removed to the garrison, viz. : 
Bryant's, Reed's, Cloutman's and McLellan's. Bryant con- 
templated moving the day preceding the massacre, but conclud- 
ed to defer it one day longer to complete some family 
arrangement. They had an infant but two weeks old ; the 
mother wished for a cradle for her little one, and said if the 
lather would remain in their dwelling that day and make the 
cradle, she would risk her scalp one day longer ! That risk 
was a fatal one ! Early in the morning of the day before named, 
Bryant and his eldest son went to a field to do some work ; a 
party of ten Indians were in the town unknown to the inhabi- 
tants ; the savages divided themselves into five parties, design- 



17 

ing to surprise the four families above named ; one of these 
parties fell in with Bryant and his son, and being unable to 
capture them, they broke Bryant's arm, and then shot him and 
his son as they were endeavoring to escape to the fort. Bryant 
was killed on the low ground in the road south of Job Thomes' 
house. Another division of the Indians proceeded to Bryant's 
house and murdered and scalped four of his children ! They 
dashed out the brains of the infant against the fire place. The 
agonized and frantic mother, feeble and powerless, had to wit- 
ness the destruction of all that was dear to her heart ! To leave 
her husband dead in the way, and the mangled bodies of her 
loved and innocent children in her desolate mansion, and with 
feelings of bitterness, which none may describe, under the 
weight of her terrible bereavement, go captive with the destroy- 
ers of all her earthly happiness, through pathless woods, tangled 
swamps, and over rugged mountains, to a people, whose lan- 
guage she could not understand, and who were her enemies and 
the enemies of her people, kindred and friends ! 

Reed and Cloutman were met separately by the Indians, and 
after great resistance were taken and carried to Canada. Some- 
time afterwards Bartholomew Thorn, a young man, was taken 
by the Indians, while he was going home from public worship 
on the Sabbath. The savages kept him several years and then 
sold him to a French gentleman in Montreal ; after seven years 
absence he returned. 

During this Indian war. Col. Edmund Phinney, then a young 
man, was one evening at a distance from the fort in pursuit of 
cows, when a party of Indians, who lay in ambush, fired upon 
him, and four balls struck him, breaking his arm and otherwise 
severely wounding him ; he however made out to reach the fort 
and keep his gun. This war of ambuscade, massacre and con- 
flagration, kept the people in continual terror and agitation ; nor 
did they feel secure till 1759, when Quebec capitulated to the 
3 



18 

army of Wolfe, and France lost her empire, and with it her 
influence over the savages in North America. 

During the war public worship was held in the south-east 
bastion, or flanker of the fort. 

After the termination of hostilities, and the fear of Indian 
assaults was removed, the town began to fill up with settlers, and 
improvements went forward. The last repairs done to the fort 
were in 1760, when one shilling and four pence per foot was 
voted to Hugh McLellan, for stockading the fort with spruce, 
pine or hemlock posts, 13 feet long and 10 inches diameter, 
with alining of hewn timber six inches thick. 

At a proprietors' meeting, held Feb. 26, 1760, it was voted 
to raise and assess on the several rights of land, X66. 13s. 4d. 
towards building a meeting-house. ■ That meeting-house was 
completed in 1764 at an expense of £180. 

In 1763 the first bridge overPresumpscot river between this 
town and Windham was erected. 

The inhabitants increased, and in 1764 the plantation was 
estimated to contain 340 souls. The town was incorporated 
by the General Court of Massachusetts Oct. 30, 1764, and 
was the twentieth town incorporated in Maine. The first town 
meeting was held in pursuance of a warrant from the Hon. Ste- 
phen Longfellow, at the meeting-house in Gorham Feb. 18th, 
1765 ; at which meeting Capt. John Phinney was chosen mod- 
erator, Amos Whitney town clerk ; Benjamin Skillings, Amos 
Whitney and Joseph Weston selectmen, and Edmund Phinney 
treasurer ; not less than twelve town meetings were held that 
year, viz. in Feb. 18th, March 12th, March 21st, April 29th, 
May 16th, May 30th, August 1st, Aug. 10th, Aug. 20th, Sept. 
2d, December 12th, and December 19ih. 

The town was now quiet and flourishing ; but their prosper- 
ity was soon to be checked by new national difficulties. The 
trouble between Great Britain and her transatlantic colonies 
was assuming a serious aspect ; and the town of Gorham enter- 



Id 

ed warmly into the contest. As early as September 21,1768, 
a town meeting was held, and an "agent chosen to go to Boston 
as soon as may be, to join a convention of agents from other 
towns in the province, to consult and resolve upon such measures 
as may most conduce to the safety and welfare of the inhabi- 
tants of said Province, at this alarming and critical conjuncture." 
Solomon Lombard, Esq. was chosen agent, and eight days 
allowed him for going and returning from Boston. 

When the ambition and cupidity of the British government 
led them to inflict on our land successive wrongs ; when they 
attempted to violate the plainest rights, and subvert the dearest 
privileges of the Colonies ; when the ministry of George III. 
had become deaf to the imploring voice of mercy and justice, 
and the patriots of America had determined to resist the un- 
righteous demands of Old England ; when the blood of the 
good and the brave had moistened the fields of Lexington and 
Bunker Hill ; when Charlestown and Portland were but heaps 
of smoking ruins ; where were found the freemen of Gorham ? 
Did they prove recreant to the great and sacred cause of lib- 
erty ? No ! Our peaceful inland town, remote from invasion 
and the clang of arms, was awake and active in the great con- 
cern ! She contributed freely and largely of her citizens and her 
property to the general cause. Our townsmen left their quiet 
pursuits to mingle in the storm of war ! She sent her sons north 
and south, and east and west, to fight, and bleed, and die ! 
She constantly contributed more than her quota of troops for 
the continental army, besides raising and officering a large com- 
pany under the command of Capt. Alexander McLellan, who 
went to Castine (then called Biguyduce) under Gen. Peleg 
Wadsworth. A large number of Gorham men were also in 
the Machias expedition. At one period, every third man in 
Gorham was in the army. Numbers of her soldiers were in 
most of the principal battles of the revolution. In the engage- 
raent on Rhode Island in 1778, two men from this town, Paul 



20 

Whitney and a Mr. Wescott were killed. The good and the 
brave Col. Edmund Phinney (he who felled the first tree in 
this town for the purpose of settlement) early had command of 
a regiment under Washington, and throughout the war conducted 
himself with great activity, courage, and prudence ; he did 
much to induce his townsmen to exert themselves to the ut- 
most, to maintain the war, and secure the independence of the 
country. In a letter to his father, the aged Capt. John Phinney 
(the first settler,) Col. P. says, "I am very well and in high 
spirits, and hope to continue so till every tory is banished this 
land of liberty, and our rights and privileges are restored." 
This letter was dated in the army. May 26, 1776, sixty years 
ago this day. Capt. John Phinney was at this time too far ad- 
vanced in life to endure the fatigues, of a campaign, but his patri- 
otic feelings were warm and vigorous, and his sons and his grand- 
sons went to the war. Besides Col. Edmund Phinney, his 
brother John Phinney, (the man who planted the first hill of 
corn in Gorham) and his two only sons, John Phinney 3d, and 
Ebenezer Phinney, were in the revolutionary army. In fact, 
almost every man in Gorham was out in the army. Your fa- 
thers left their homes and families, that were dearer to them 
than life ; they endured the fatigues and dangers of every cam- 
paign ; they parted with their hard earned bread to feed their 
brethren in arms ; at home they maintained the families of ab- 
sent soldiers. They poured out their precious blood and laid 
down their lives, in distant States, without murmuring or com- 
plaint ! They died by the weapons of the enemy — they died by 
contagious disease — they died by the cold of winter — they died 
by the heat of summer ! While those who remained at home, 
devoted their time and talents to the great cause, by noble en- 
deavors and patriotic resolutions. The preserved records of 
our town fully bear me out in these assertions. 

In 1772 the town of Boston had issued circulars to the prin- 
cipal towns in the Province, requesting the inhabitants "to ex- 



21 

press their sense of the rights of the Colonists, and the several 
infractions of those rights." In accordance with this request, 
a town meeting was held at the meeting-house in Gorham on 
the last day of December, 1772. Solomon Lombard Esq., 
who had been the first settled minister of the town, was chosen 
moderator ; a committee of safety and communication, and to 
draw up resolves expressive of the sense of the town on the 
subject matter of the Boston circular, v/as raised ; the com- 
mittee was composed of nine members, and were Solomon 
Lombard Esq., Capt. John Phinney, William Gorham Esq., 
Capt. Edmund Phinney, Elder Nathan Whitney, Caleb Chase, 
Capt. Briant Morton, Josiah Davis, and Benjamin Skillings. 
The assembled freemen of Gorham then voted to return thanks 
to the town of Boston, for their vigilance of our privileges and 
liberties ; the meeting was adjourned one week. At the ad- 
journed meeting, January 7, 1773, the following preamble and 
resolves were reported by the committee, and adopted by the 
citizens. 

"We find it is esteemed an argument of terror to a set of the 
basest of men, who are attempting to enslave us, and who de- 
sire to wallow in luxury, upon the expense of our earnings, that 
this country was purchased by the blood of our renowned fore- 
fathers, who flying from the unrelenting rage of civil and reli- 
gious tyranny in their native land, settled themselves in this des- 
olate howling wilderness. But the people of this town of Gor- 
ham, have an argument still nearer at hand ; not only may we 
say that we enjoy an inheritance purchased by the blood of our 
forefathers, but this town was settled at the expense of our oion 
Blood ! We have those among us, whose blood, streaming from 
their own wounds, watered the soil from which we earn our 
bread ! Our ears have heard the infernal yells of the savage, 
native murderers ! Our eyes have seen our young children 
weltering in their gore, in our own houses, and our dearest 
friends carried into captivity by men more savage than the sav- 



age beasts themselves ! Many of us have been used to earn our 
daily bread with our weapons in our hands ! We cannot be sup- 
posed to be fully acquainted with the mysteries of court policy, 
but we look upon ourselves able to judge so far concerning our 
rights as men, as christians, and as subjects of the British Gov- 
ernment, as to declare that we apprehend those rights as settled 
by the good people of Boston, do belong to us ; and that we 
look with horror and indignation on their violation. We only 
add that our old captain is still living, who for many years has 
been our chief officer, to rally the inhabitants of this town from 
the plough, or the sickle to defend their wives, their children, 
and all that was dear to them from the savages ! Many of us 
have been inured to the fatigue and danger of flying to garrison! 
Many of our watch-boxes are stiU in being, the timber of our 
fort is still to be seen ; some of our women have been used to 
handle the cartridge or load the musket, and the swords we 
sharpened and brightened for our enemies are not yet grown 
rusty. Therefore, 

Resolved, That the people of the town of Gorham are as 
loyal as any of his Majesty's subjects in Great Britain or the 
plantations, and hold themselves always in readiness to assist 
his Majesty, with their lives and fortunes in defence of the 
rights and privileges of his subjects. 

Resolved. We apprehend that the grievances of which we 
justly complain, are owing to the corruptions of the late minis- 
try in not suffering the repeated petitions and remonstrances 
from this Province to reach the Royal ear. 

Resolved. It is clearly the opinion of this town, that the 
Parliament of Great Britain have no more right to take money 
from us without our consent, than they have to take money 
without consent from the inhabitants of France or Spain. 

Resolved. It is the opinion of this town, that it is better to 



23 

risk our lives and fortunes in the defence of our rights, civil 
and religious, than to die by piece meals in slavery ! 

Resolved, That the foregoing resolves and proceedings be 
registered in the town clerk's office as a standing memorial of 
the value that the inhabitants of this town put upon their rights 
and privileges. 

At a meeting of the town called to consider of the exigency 
of public affairs January 25th, 1774 (which meeting was very 
fully attended) the following among other spirited resolutions 
were passed. 

Resolved. That our small possessions, dearly purchased by 
the hand of labor and the industry of ourselves and our dear 
ancestors, with the loss of many lives by a barbarous and cruel 
enemy, are, by the laws of God, nature and the British consti- 
tution, our own, exclusive of any other claim under heaven. 

Resolved, That for any Legislative body of men under the 
British constitution to take, or grant liberty to take any part of 
our property, or profits, without our consent, is state robbery 
and ought to be opposed. 

Resolved, That the tea act in favor of the East India Com- 
pany to export the same to America, is a deep laid scheme to 
betray the unweary into the snare, laid to catch and enslave 
them, and requires the joint vigilance, fortitude, and courage 
of the thoughtful and brave to oppose in every constitutional 
way. 

Resolved, That we, of this town, have such a high relish for 
liberty, that we all with one heart stand ready sword in hand, 
to defend and maintain our rights against all attempts to enslave 
us. Opposing force to force, if drove to the last extremity, 
which God forbid. 

After these high toned resolutions were passed, the venerable 



24 

John Phinney made a motion which was carried, " that if any 
person of Gorham should contemn, despise or reproach the 
former, or the present resolves, he shall be deemed, held and 
adjudged an enemy to his country^ unworthy the company and 
regard of those who are the professed sons of freedom, and 
shall be treated as infamous ! In the preamble to these re- 
solves, the committee say, "we hope and trust the inhabitants 
of this town will not be induced to part with their privileges/or 
a little paltry herb drink ! The inhabltantsof this town are in 
general better qualified to handle their old swords than the wri- 
ter's pen, and if compelled to dispute for their privileges shall 
have resort to those solid and weighty arguments, by which 
they have often carried their point with savage men and savage 
beasts." Such, citizens of Gorham, was the spirit, such the 
energy of your fathers. They avowed themselves ready at all 
times to aid the cause of freedom. They never thought of 
shrinking In the hour of danger. Their committees of safety 
and vigilance, in those trying times, were men of great wisdom, 
sagacity and firmness. They were John and Edmund Phinney 
(father and son) William Gorham, Bryant Morton, Solomon 
Lombard, Prince and Joslah Davis, Benjamin Skilllngs, Caleb 
Chase, Samuel Whitmore and many others. James Phinney 
was chairman of the selectmen during most of the trying years 
of the revolution. 

In September 1774, Solomon Lombard, Esq. was elected 
from this town a member of the Provincial Congress, and a 
large committee was raised, of which Nathan Whitney was 
chairman, to draw up instructions for the Representative, Mr. 
Lombard ; the instructions were precise and strong and voted 
by the town. Capt. Bryant Morton was delegate to the third 
and last Provincial Congress, which sat at Waiertown. 

At a town meeting held May 20, 1776, the freemen of Gor- 
ham being generally assembled, voted unanimously, that they 
would abide by, and with their lives and fortunes support the 



25 

honorable Congress in the measure, if they think fit for the 
safety of these United Colonics, to declare themselves indepen- 
dent of the kingdom of Great Britain. This vote was passed 
nearly two months before the Declaration of Independence was 
brought forward in Congress. So early, so constantly and so 
vigorously did the people of this town manifest their attachment 
to freedom. 

In November 1777, the town voted 100 dollars to each voU 
unteer who would go to reinforce the army of Gen. Washington; 
and £100 lawful money was raised in a single year in this town 
to supply the families of absent soldiers. The spirit of patriot- 
ism in this town never flagged throughout the whole seven 
year's war. And after peace returned, at a town meeting held 
May 12th, 1783, " it was voted that no person or persons, 
who have joined the enemy in the late war against these United 
States (otherwise called tories) shall be suffered to abide in 
Gorham."* 

From the first to the last day of the revolutionary struggle, 
this town complied, and more than complied with all the requi- 
sitions of the nation and the state for men, food and clothing 
for the army. At one time the town raised four hundred dollars 
for the purchase of beef, and three hundred dollars for the pur- 
chase of clothing for the army ; and at one town meeting the 
inhabitants voted £522 13s. Ad. for bounties for soldiers for the 
continental army — and Capt. Samuel Whitmore, Lieut. Nath'I 
Frost and Capt. Hart Williams were appointed a committee to 
obtain the soldiers. 

Col. Frost was almost Incessantly employed in military ser- 
vices, as well as in civil offices, during many years of the war ; 
and it gives great additional interest to our celebration to find 
him among us in vigorous health, (the oldest man in our towTi) 
with so many of his venerable associates with him, the patriots- 

* See note D in the Appendix. 
4 



2G 

of the war of oiir Independence. At the latter part of their 
long and useful lives, they arc receiving the gratitude of the 
young, and something of the bounty of the government they 
contributed so largely to establish. 

It has been already stated that the people of this town made 
early provision for religious instruction. In 1741, when there 
were not more than ten or twelve families in Gorham, they set 
about building a meeting-house. In 1764 a second meeting- 
house was erected. In 1792, it was voted to enlarge the meet- 
ing-house thirty feet to the southward. In 1797, it was voted 
to dispose of the old meeting-house and to build a new one. 
In 1798, the parish gave the "Corner school class the old 
meeting-house, provided the said class would build a school 
house large enough to accommodate the town to do their town 
business in." 

In June 1797, the present meeting-house of the First Parish 
was erected. At the time of raising the same, a melancholy 
accident occurred — a part of the frame gave way, and two per- 
sons, Dr. Nathaniel Bowman and Tryon, were killed. 

In 1828 tliis meeting-house was enlarged, altered, and put into 
its present form. Until 1790, the First, or Congregational 
Parish, was the only incorporated religious society in this town. 
In January 1790, George Thomes and sixty-one others were 
constituted a separate society, which was denominated the 
Baptist Society, though before that time many were dissatisfied 
with Congregational tenets and preaching, and much opposed 
to paying taxes to support a Congregational minister. Since 
1800, a large and respectable society of Methodists have been 
formed, and there are many persons in town of other denomi- 
nations. The Free meeting-house was erected in 1821, to be 
used by any sect. The Methodists have also another house 
for public worship. The Free-will Baptists and Friends have 
each one. 
T he first clergyman employed in Gorham, was a Mr. Ben- 



27 

jamin Crocker from Cape Cod ; he hired for six months at 
three pounds ten shillings per week, and preached from Feb. 
16th, 1743 to the September following, when he was paid £60 
(old tenor, 45 shillings to the dollar). Mr. Crocker graduated 
at Harvard College in 1713. 

In September 1750, the proprietors of this town voted to give 
Mr. Solomon Lombard a call to settle here in the work of the 
gospel ministry ; his salary was to be £53 6s. Sd. annually, and 
he received the lots of land reserved for the first settled minister, 
and the use of the parsonage land during his ministry. Lot No. 
67 (the lot where Mr. S. Clarke's farm is) was confirmed to 
him and his heirs for one of the minister lots. Mr. Lombard 
was a native of Truro, Cape Cod, and graduated at Harvard 
College in 1723 ; he was ordained atGorham Dec. 26, 1750 ; 
one dollar was assessed on each right of land ($120) to defray 
the expenses of the ordination.* 

How long Mr. Lombard lived on terms of unanimity with 
his parishoners, I cannot say ; but in the warrant for a propri- 
etor's meeting, March 11, 1757, one of the articles in the 
warrant was, "to enquire into the grounds of the diference 
betwixt the Rev. Mr. Lombard, and the inhabitants of this 
town." He was finally dismissed in 1764, and subse- 
quently united with the Episcopalians. During the ministry 
of Mr. Lombard there was a schism in the Church, and a Mr. 
Townsend was ordained pastor over one division of it, April 
4, 1759. — The Parish ordained him without the aid of cler- 
gymen. Capt. Phinney, prayed before the Charge — Capt. 
Morton gave the Charge, and Mr. Townsend performed the 
other services. Phinney and Morton were Elders in the church. 
Mr. Lombard was a man of talents, learning, and sound sense. 
Soon after his dismissal from the ministry, he was engaged in 
political life ; he sustained many important offices ; he was a 
Justice of the Peace, chairman of the committee of safety 

* See note E in the Appendix. 



28 

and vigilance in the early days of the Revolution ; — a delegate 
to the first Colonial Convention ; twice a member of the Pro- 
vincial Congress ; a delegate to form the Constitution of Mas- 
sachusetts ; seven years a Representative from Gorham in the 
Legislature, and afterv^^ards one of the Judges of the C.C. Pleas 
for the county of Cumberland. 

A town meeting was held July 12, 1766, "to see what 
method the town would take in order to the settling of a good 
learned, orthodox congregational minister among us ; and it 
was voted to send out Deacon Eliphalet Watson to go after 
such a minister. Mr. Lombard was succeeded in the ministry 
by Rev. Josiah Thacher, a native of Lebanon, Connecticut, 
a graduate of Nevi^-Jersey College. He was settled in Gor- 
ham in 1767, and after many difficulties with the Parish, he 
was dismissed in April 1781. And like Mr. Lombard he soon 
laid aside the title of Reverend, for that of Honorable, and 
entered deeply into political affairs. He was a Justice of the 
Peace — eleven years Representative of the town — then a 
Senator from Cumberland county in the Massachusetts Legis- 
lature, and subsequently a Judge of the County Court. 

Rev. Caleb Jewett was the third congregational minister ; he 
was a native of Newburyport, Mass., and graduated at Dart- 
mouth College in 1776 ; he was ordained at Gorham, Novem- 
ber 5, 1783 ; he was dismissed September 8th, 1800. Jere- 
miah Noyes was his successor ; he was from Newburyport — 
graduated at Dartmouth College 1799 — Ordained at Gorham, 
November 16th,and died January 15th, 1807. One condition 
of Mr. Noyes' settlement was, that he should lake a dismission 
whenever two-thirds of the legal voters of the Parish, at a le- 
gal meeting, held for that purpose,should request it ; six months' 
notice to be given. 

Asa Rand was next ordained over the first Parish in Gorham, 
January 18th, 1809. He was a native of Rindge, N. H., 
graduated at Dartmouth College 1806, and dismissed from his 



29 

pastoral charge June 12ih, 1822 ; he became afterwards editor 
of a religious newspaper in Portland, then at Boston, and sub- 
sequently at Lowell, Massachusetts. Rev. Thaddeus Pome- 
roy, from South-Hampton, Mass., succeeded Mr. Rand, as 
pastor of the first Parish — and still remains in that relation. 

Dr. Stephen Swett was the first physician in this town ; he 
was from Exeter, N. H., and was a prominent man in town 
affairs in the time of the revolution, and was surgeon in Col. 
Phinney's regiment, and in several battles. Dr. Jeremiah 
Barker succeeded him ; he afterwards removed to Falmouth ; 
subsequently he married the vi^idow of Judge Gorham, returned 
to this town, and died here in 1835, at the age of 84 years. 

Dr. Nathaniel Bowman was the third physician ; he gradu- 
ated at Harvard College in 1786, and was killed by the fall of 
the meeting-house frame, as before stated. Dr. Dudley Fol- 
som, from Exeter, N. H., Drs. Charles Kittridge, Asa Ad- 
ams, William_Thorndike, Dr. Seayer, Elihu Baxter, William 
H. Peabody, Nelson H. Carey, and John Pierce have been 
practising physicians in town. 

John P. Little, from Littleton, Mass. a graduate of Brown 
University, first opened an office in this town in 1801 for the 
practice of law; Peter Thacher, Samuel Whitmore, Barrett 
Potter, Jacob S. Smith, Joseph Adams, J. Pierce, Thomas J. 
Goodwin, and Elijah Hayes, have since been counsellors at 
law in Gorham. 

The first Innholder licensed in Gorham was Caleb Chase in 
1770 ; then Samuel Premiss in 1776 ; Cary McLellan in 
1779 ; and many others since. 

Till 1789, there was but one militia company in Gorham ; 
in that year two companies were formed out of the old one ; a 
third company was afterward formed ; and since, companies 
of cavalry, light infantry, and riflemen have been organized. 

The people of this town have not been inattentive to the sub- 
ject of education. Before the incorporation of the town, the 



30 

proprietors and inhabitants made provision for schools. At the 
first town meeting in March 1765, JE40 was voted for schools. 
At that period only one public school was kept in town. In 
1768, the "town voted to improve Mr. John Greene as school 
master till the money tax is expended." 

In each of the years 1806—1807, £550 ($1833,33) was 
raised for schools ; in 1808, $666,66 ; in 1809, $1000 ; in 
1812, $1500. 

Gorham Academy was incorporated by the Legislature of 
Massachusetts March 5th, 1803, being the seventh Academy 
incorporated in Maine. 11,520 acres of land was granted by 
the General Court of Massachusetts for its endowment, June 
20, 1803 — $2500 was contributed by the citizens of Gorham 
and the vicinity ; and in 1804 ihe town voted $400 in aid of 
the institution. The land granted by the State is in the town 
of Woodstock, Oxford County, and was sold by the Trustees 
for $10,000. The Academy went into operation September 
1806. Its first Preceptor was Reuben Nason, a native of 
Dover, N. H. ; he graduated at Harvard College in 1802. 
Mr. Nason had charge of the Academy till January 1810, when 
he settled at Freeport as minister of the Congregational Socie- 
ty in that town ; he again took charge of Gorham Academy in 
September 1815, and continued Principal of the same till 
August 1834 ; he then removed to Clarkson, N. Y. and died 
suddenly at that place in January 1835. Charles Cofiin, Asa 
Redington jr., and William White, were Preceptors from 1810 
to 1815. In 1834, John V. Beane was Principal — and Amos 
Brown is at present at the head of the Institution.* 

The principal burying ground in the town is the old cemetry 
in the Village, which was given to the town by Mr. Jacob 
Hamlen in 1770, and contains one half acre of land. In this 
place most of the early settlers and many of the distinguished 
men who have lived in Gorham, have been buried. 

* See note F in the Appendix. 



31 

Ever since the termination of the Indian wars, the town has 
been constantly increasing in wealth and population, and at the 
present time has more than 3000 inhabitants. It is one of the 
best agricultural towns in the State, having little or no waste 
land, and has important factories of cotton, woolen, leather, 
starch, and gunpowder. 

If the healthiness of a place is to be ascertained by the age 
to which its people Hve, then will this town be adjudged to be 
one of great salubrity ; it is believed that no town in Maine has 
contained so many aged people in proportion to its population, 
as Gorham. The early setders especially were remarkable for 
their longevity. The first settler, Capt. John Phinney and his 
wife Martha, both died at the age of eighty-seven years ; their 
sons, Col. Edmund Phinney lived to be 85 — John Phinney 
83 — James Phinney 94 — their daughter, Mary Gorham Irish, 
89.* When the census of 1830 was taken, there were living 
in Gorham 68 persons between the ages of 70 and 80 years ; 
32 between 80 and 90 ; and 6 over 90 years of age. 

The deaths in Gorham have been in late years about one in 
one hundred of the population, about 30 annually. Though in 
1832, when the scarlet fever prevailed extensively, and was 
very fatal, 56 persons died in town, 29 of whom died by that 
malady, f 

From the time of the incorporation of the town in 1764 to 
the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, four Judges of the 
courts have lived in Gorham, and she had four senators and 
fifteen representatives in the Legislature of Massachusetts. The 
senators were the Hon. Josiah Thacher, Stephen Longfellow, 
Lothrop Lewis and James Irish. | 

Col. Phinney, Judge Longfellow, Judge Gorham, Caleb 
Chase, Capt. Briant Morton, Capt. Hart Williams, Amos 
Whitney, Solomon Lombard, Hon. Josiah Thacher and Lo- 

* See note G in the Appendix. f See note H in the Appendix. 
t See note I in the Appendix. 



32 

tlirop Lewis, were for many years ihe leading men in town, and 
managed its most important concerns. 

But I detain you too long, it is time that I should close. I 
have thus, fellow-citizens, endeavored to trace a portion of the 
history of our town, to exhibit the deeds and character of its 
first settlers. They are not present to join in our celebration ; 
they have all passed away to be here no more — 

" Each in his narrow cell forever laid, 
The rude fore-fathers of the hamlet sleep." 

And we are permitted to reap in peace and joy the fields they 
planted in sorrow and in blood ! It is but just to speak of their 
worth ; it is but grateful to cherish the memory of their virtues. 
They were a peculiar set of men, remarkable for their love of 
freedom, for firmness and decision of character. Their spring 
time of life was passed in hardships, dangers and difficulties of 
no common magnitude. They were mostly agriculturists, hard 
working, sober, honest citizens. They had not the advantages 
of literary education, but they acquired knowledge enough of 
letters to fit them for the more important duties of townsmen 
and citizens. They had not studied in the schools of eloquence, 
but they spoke in plain and forcible language " the words of 
truth and soberness." They abhorred disguise and were above 
dissimulation. They were just, and therefore respected ; vir- 
tuous, and beloved ; hospitable, and esteemed ; pious, and 
worthy to be imitated. They had no predilections, or personal 
interests that they were not willing to sacrifice on the altars of 
duty and patriotism. 

Liberty and religious freedom were the great objects of their 
pursuit ; these they resolved to have at any hazard ; these they 
gained and left to their posterity. Let those now living see to 
it, that they transmit the precious bequest to their children. 



APPENDIX. 



J^ote A — page 7. 

Of the 120 persons composing Capt. Gorham's company in 
the Narraganset fight, 40 were from Barnstable, 39 from Yar- 
mouth, 22 from Eastham, 7 from Sandwich, 6 from Duxbury, 
3 from Plymouth, 2 from Abington, and 1 from Scituate. 

Mte B—page 13. 

The wives and daughters of the first settlers of Gorham 
shared in all the toils and wants of their husbands and fathers ; 
they used to labor in the field, carry burdenS) go to mill, and 
aid in defence of their property. One time when most of the 
men were away, the Indians attacked the fort, and the wife of 
Hugh McLellan rallied the women in the garrison, shut the 
gates, mounted the walls, fired upon the Indians, and by her 
courage and activity baffled the enemy till succour arrived. 

J\ote C — page 15. 

Horse-beef falls between Gorham and Windham, or Pre- 
sumpscot river, were formerly called Mallison's falls, after Mr. 
Joseph Mallison, to whom the General Court of Massachusetts 
made a grant of 200 acres of land, and the falls adjoining before 
the town of Gorham was granted. In 1741, Samuel Waldo, 
Esq. owned the Mallison tract. 

JSTote D — page 25. 

This vote was not enforced, for the Hon. William Tyng, 
who was sheriff of Cumberland county from 1767 to 1775, and 
who then resided in Portland, adhered to the British interest ; 



34 

he fled to St. John, New-Brunswick, and was made Chief Jus- 
tice of the Court of Common Pleas in Nova Scotia. In 1793, 
he removed to Gorham, and was a British loyalist, and received 
a British pension to the time of his death, which occurred in 
Dec. 1807 ; he was a gentleman of urbanity, hospitable, ex- 
emplary and highly respected. 

Mte E— pa«-e 27. 

The accounts of those who made preparation for the ordina- 
tion of Mr. Lombard, are curious, as showing the value of 
articles and prices of services at that period, Dec. 1750. Some 
of these charges are the following : 

1 barrel of flour £14 7^. 6i. 29 lbs sugar jE8 14s. 
3 bushels of apples 2 8 1 tea pot 1 10 

2 barrels of cider 9 4 gallons of rum 5 4 
2 gallons of brandy 5 2 bsh'ls cranberries 2 

1 bottle of vinegar 5 ' 1 lb. of tea 10 

2 cheeses Qd per lb. 1 lb. of ginger 2 
54 1-2 lbs. of pork 7dperlb. — 6 gals, molasses 2s8d per gal. 
6 candles Is 3 geese 3 \-2d. per lb. 

1 oz. of nutmegs \M. 4 oz. of pepper 6(/. 

8 fowls 36s. 1-2 bushel of onions and 1-2 bushel of pota- 
toes. 

Two bushels of cranberries to half a bushel of potatoes, would 
at this day seem disproportionate, and the rum, brandy and 
cider would hardly be expected at an ordination dinner. 

JVofe ¥—page 30. 

Within the last year an effort has been made to increase the 
funds and enlarge the operations of the academy, by establishing 
a female seminary of the highest order, and a department for 
the better qualification of primary school teachers ; more than 
$20,000 have been subscribed for these purposes ; a large 
brick edifice for the female seminary is now being erected. 
There are at present, three male and one female teacher attach- 
ed to the institution. 

MteG—page 31. 
In addition to thePhinney family before named, the follow. 



35 



ing named persons have attained a great age. Dennis LareVi 

an earlier settler from the South of Ireland, died here in 179G, 

aged 102 years. Mr. Larey was a soldier in two Indian wars ; 

he was at the taking of Lanisburg in 1745, under Gen. Waldo, 

and at the second capture in 1758, and at the fall of Quebec 

1759. Patience Larey, the wife of Dennis Larey, died in 

1809, aged 90 years. 

Eliphalet Watson, - - - aged 98 years. 

Mr. Whitney, an early settler, died in 1804, aged 89 years. 



Susannah Cobb, 


died in 


1807 ag 


ed 95 years 


Mr. Haynes, 


(( 


1811 ' 


' 90 


Mrs. Stone, 


u 


1812 ' 


' 90 


Mrs. Gates, 


(C 


1813 ' 


' 90 


Prince Davis, 


11 


1819 ' 


' 96 


Kerenhappuch Brackett 


1820 ' 


' 98 


Jedediah Lombard, 




1820 ' 


' 92 


William Files, 




1823 ' 


' 95 


David Harding, 




1828 ' 


' 97 


Catharine Cloutman, 




1832 ' 


' 91 


Thomas Irish, 




1832 ' 


' 94yrs. and 8 mts. 


Uriah Nason, 




1833 ' 


' 91 


Jedediah Cobb, 




1833 ' 


' 91 


Hannah Ross, 




1833 ' 


' 98 


Jonathan Sturgis, 




1834 ' 


' 91 


James Mosier, 




1834 ' 


' 99yrs. and 3 mts. 


James Phinney, 




1834 ' 


' 94 


John Watson, 




1834 ' 


' 93 



Mte U—page 31. 

The number ofdeaths in Gorham in 1830, were 32 ; in 1831, 
36 :in 1832, 56; in 1833,37; in 1834, 37, and in 1835,28. 



JVote I — page 31. 

Solomon Lombard was representative from Gorham 7 years. 
Wentworth Stewart 2 years. Briant Morton, 3 years ; also a 
delegate to the Provincial Congress. Edmund Phinney, 3 
years ; also delegate to the convention at Concord 1779. Jo- 
siah Thacher, 1 1 years, afterwards Senator and Judge. Stephen 
Longfellow, 8 years, afterwards Senator and Judge. Lothrop 
Lewis, 13 years, afterwards Senator and Judge. David Hard- 



ingjr. 12 years. Dudley Folsom 4 years. James Codman 
3 years. Tappan Robie 6 years. Samuel Stephenson 2 
years. Joseph Adams 1 year, and James Irish 1 year. 

Since the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, the town 
has been represented in the Legislature of this State, succes- 
sively by Lothrop Lewis, Seward Merrill, Samuel Stephenson, 
Clark Dyer, Edmund Man, Joseph Hamlen 3d, Josiah Pierce, 
William E. Files and Charles Hunt. 

The delegates from Gorham to the Convention to form the 
Constitution of Maine, were Lothrop Lewis, James Irish, and 
Joseph Adams. 



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